Irish Abroad: Dingle IFF goes out to animate Santa Barbara

Dingle International Film Festival will make a presentation of Ireland’s top animators at The Santa Barbara International Film Festival. From The West Coast of Ireland, sitting along The Wild Atlantic Way, Dingle IFF will bring it’s showcase of Irish Animation to The West Coast of America in California.

The selection of animation films by Maurice Galway, Director Dingle IFF, includes some of the top names in animation here in Ireland today whilst also giving a nod to up and coming talent. Maurice was invited by the Executive Director of SBIFF, Roger Durling to make the selection.

[quote title=”Maurice Galway – Dingle IFF, Director”]There are a number of animation companies you may know including: Brown Bag Films, Kavaleer, Treehouse Republic and Cartoon Saloon, but I have also selected new works from new Irish directors and the Irish colleges, including the Irish School of Animation, BCFE and Dún Laoghaire, IADT.[/quote]

[quote title=”Roger Durling – SBIFF, Executive Director”]We are so honored to feature short animations from a country with such a thriving film industry. What makes it even more special is that we are partnering with Dingle IFF located in one of our most favorite Sister Cities.[/quote]

Dingle International Film Festival is home to Animation Dingle and in partnership with JAM Media, it is now the main gathering of animators in Ireland and has been listed by Animation Magazine in their Top 25 Events Not To Be Missed in The World!

Screenings will take place in The Metro 4 Theatre on the 4th and 6th Feb. Maurice Galway will participate in a Q&A session following the screenings.

Selected Santa Barbara Programme includes:

The well known animation studios include Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon, a twice Academy Award® and BAFTA nominated animation studio for their films Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea. They will present Somewhere Down The Line directed by Julien Regnard. The film follows a man’s life, loves and losses, shown through the exchanges he has with the passengers in his car.

Brown Bag, known for their Oscar nominated films Give up Yer Aul Sins (2002) and Sleeping Beauty (2010) along with four Emmy awards for their Peter Rabbit (2014), will present Ode To Love, directed by Matthew Darragh. The film tells of a lonely man on a desert island who explores the highs and lows of romantic love when a mysterious companion is washed ashore. Nothing will ever be the same. Or will it?

Kavaleer, the Dublin based animation company, has been selected by over 100 international festivals and they will screen Deadly directed by Aidan McAteer. Deadly won The Best Animated Short Film at The Animation Ireland Awards in Animation Dingle in 2015. Deadly tells the story of Boney, a working stiff who doesn’t care about his dead-end job. That is, until he has a run-in with a spirited old lady named Bridie.

Appropriately for the year that is in it, Treehouse Republic will present 1916 directed by Patrick O’ Callaghan, a profound story that takes place in The GPO on the day of The 1916 Easter Rising.

Director Jack O Shea will present A Coat Made Dark, which tells the story of a man who follows the orders of a dog to wear a mysterious coat with impossible pockets. The film has been selected to Sundance 2016.

Maurice Joyce who began his career at Murakami Wolf Studios will present Violet, a dark cautionary tale of a young girl who despises her reflection. This film is narrated by Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones).

Conor Whelan has written and directed Snowfall, the story of an anxious young man who has a moving experience at a friend’s house party. It’s a story of fleeting love, of mixed emotions, and of how we interact with each other.

Alan Holly’s film Coda was announced as the best animated short film, selected by the staff of Vimeo for 2015, along with being shortlisted for an Academy Award and winning awards all over the world, including SXSW.

Animation students are very much a part of this presentation. Julie Rush, Gavin Fullerton and Helga Kristjana Bjarnadóttir met at Ballyfermot College of Further Education, where they completed their film Wounded as their graduation project. Wounded went on to win The Best Student Short Animated Film at The Animation Ireland Awards in Dingle 2015. Also recently graduated from Irish School of Animation, BCFE, Elif Boyacioglu will present her film The Tea Cup.

Representing Dún Laoghaire, IADT are Jessica Patterson with Did You HearAbout Her Dad?, Emily Lynch with Sour Puss and Suzanne Williams with Terrain.

Santa Barbara International Film Festival offers 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums that transforms beautiful downtown Santa Barbara, CA into a rich destination for film lovers which attracts more than 90,000 attendees. Festival opens on February 3rd and runs until February 13th. Awards are being presented at the festival to Johnny Depp, Saoirse Ronan, Rooney Mara, Michael Keaton and other great talents.